Cardiff Fashion Week

Hailed by the organisers as “The premier fashion and beauty event in Wales” I attended with my cousin, what was deemed to be, “One of the highlights...” of the event, the ‘Fashion Showcase catwalk show’ at the Hilton Hotel last weekend. Once we had shown our entry tickets, we purchased raffle tickets and were allowed through to the stalls, before we queued up for the catwalk show itself. We were lucky enough to have VIP front row seats, which allowed for a great view of the show and free goody bag!

The event was sponsored by a range of brands, including John Lewis, Peacocks, University of South Wales and Queens Arcade. The show began in darkness, with a number of models who wore matching beige trench coats and paper headwear, stood posing amongst the audience. They slowly changed positions, with lights in their hands, which was extremely effective and all this was set to soft music. The music then quickened its pace and the models began performing a choreographed dance routine, after which they removed their headwear, which now transformed into a dressing for the stage.

The show was very professional and lasted around an hour in total. We saw models promoting a number A/W trends including, ‘Ladylike’, ‘Florals’, ‘Leopard Print’, ‘Gothic’, ‘Monochrome’, ‘Tartan’, ‘Eveningwear’ and ‘Streetwear’. All the outfits were put together extremely well – I particularly liked the scarf layered over the formal coat and jewellery styled over the evening dress. The events official stylist was Wenda James Rowe of the Style Team. I was also impressed by the hair styling, in which top buns, crimped hair, plaits, quiffs and afros all featured – created by the National Hair Federation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were other dance elements to the show, including an air hostess theme, where the girls wore matching hats and patterned dresses and once again used the lights in their hands as part of the routine. Three of the male models also performed a hip hop routine, which was totally unexpected and included back flips and popping arms out of sockets!

 

For the finale, after the traditional bridal wear has been showcased, it was on to a Las Vegas style wedding, with all the stereotypical elements – drunken bridesmaid, colourful wigs, sunglasses, disco ball and an outrageous tartan dress.

 

 

 

The music was also very well chosen, for example ‘Diamonds’ by Rihanna for the sparkly evening dresses, Darlene Love’s ‘(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry’ for the traditional bridal wear and the popular Elvis song, ‘A Little Less Conversation’ for the Las Vegas wedding.

Additional elements to the show included a patchwork dress, which was put together by designer Tara Tarapetian, after the public were invited to create a patch as part of a project encouraging people to sew and socialise. Students from the University of South Wales also got to showcase their designs, which were more outrageous than their high street counterparts and the winning outfit from the charity shop competition was revealed. 

 

 

 

Finally before leaving, the raffle was drawn. I was selected to pick the winning ticket and low and behold I chose my cousins ticket - I promise it wasn’t a fix! She was lucky enough to win a lovely berry colour John Lewis handbag, which she was extremely pleased with.

Cardiff Fashion Week runs from the 19^th – 27^th October this year and although the catwalk shows have now ended, there are still events on across the city, which would well be worth attending. For more information visit their website www.visitcfw.co.uk or social media accounts.